Juror Discussions About Evidence, 1997-1998: [Arizona] (ICPSR 2687)

These data were collected in conjunction with an evaluation
of the Arizona court reform effective December 1, 1995, to permit
jurors in civil cases to discuss the evidence prior to
deliberations. The datasets consist of survey responses by judges,
jurors, attorneys, and litigants in all civil cases conducted in
Maricopa, Pima, Mohave, and Yavapai counties in Arizona between June
15, 1997, and January 31, 1998. Civil cases in the participating
courts were randomly assigned to one of two ex... (more info)

These data were collected in conjunction with an evaluation
of the Arizona court reform effective December 1, 1995, to permit
jurors in civil cases to discuss the evidence prior to
deliberations. The datasets consist of survey responses by judges,
jurors, attorneys, and litigants in all civil cases conducted in
Maricopa, Pima, Mohave, and Yavapai counties in Arizona between June
15, 1997, and January 31, 1998. Civil cases in the participating
courts were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions:
(1) jurors were told they could discuss the evidence prior to
deliberation according to Rule 39(f) of the Arizona Rules of Civil
Procedure, or (2) jurors were told they could not discuss the evidence
per the previous admonition. The datasets contain survey responses
under both conditions. Part 1, Case Characteristics Data, contains
information from two questionnaires completed by judges about the
lawsuit, the parties, the trial procedures, and the case outcome. The
data in Part 2, Juror Questionnaire Data, cover jurors' views
regarding the complexity of the case, the importance of witnesses and
testimonies, and attorneys' performances. The variables in Part 3,
Attorney Questionnaire Data, offer information on attorneys' opinions
of the jurors, the opposing counsel, and the verdict. Part 4, Litigant
Questionniare Data, consists of litigants' views regarding the jurors
and the verdict. Demographic data include respondents' gender, age,
race, income, and job status.

Methodology

Sample:
All civil jury trials conducted in Maricopa, Pima, Mohave,
and Yavapai counties in Arizona from June 15, 1997, to January 31,
1998.

Data Source:

self-enumerated questionnaires

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1999-06-02

Version History:

2006-03-30 File CB2687.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one
or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well
as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable,
and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to
reflect these additions.